The Editor,
Surrey Citizen Leaders is an ad hoc group of more than 50 of Surrey’s most involved citizens. These are people who are working to improve their communities and their city for the benefit of all.
They volunteer countless hours of their time to their community associations and environmental, social and charitable groups. These are the “feet on the street†that see firsthand the impact of city policies on their neighbourhoods. These are not folks that are running for political office or have any financial or power to gain.
This group is collectively concerned regarding the state of our city. These concerns include crime, bylaw enforcement, the environment, tree preservation and the destruction of green space, the pace and quality of development, the lack of infrastructure, transportation, the lack of social support and the community consultation process. Surrey needs to improve in all these areas!
We’ve suggested that citizens make informed decisions and select candidates that pledge to remedy these issues. Citizens can go online for some of this information, but attending candidate debates where you can see candidates perform first hand is critical.
Unfortunately, attendance by some candidates at these debates has been poor. Take the recent Rotary-sponsored debate in South Surrey: Of the One Surrey and Safe Surrey slates, only one candidate was missing, and nearly all independent mayoral and council candidates were present. But Surrey First was missing Linda Hepner and four of their incumbent councilors! Linda Hepner has now skipped three of these debates. The citizens of Surrey deserve the opportunity to hear and see those who choose to run for office.
Bob Campbell, Surrey